OTA Video | UN: FormerPilot | & Private Video @Seifer and @Rinoa

[skyward_eyes]

[The video starts on a young man that looks a bit tired, but if you know Nida you know that's probably status quo. At least he knows how to easily position his arm to get himself framed well now that the video's started. And, if you were one of those already lucky or maybe unlucky enough to know him, his nervousness is evident in how he runs his right hand through his hair, his main nervous tick.]

Hey, Nida here. Uh, so I've been trying to figure out how to approach this for a week or so now, since the 'party' thing that happened. And while I've been through this device and a lot of different filtering options, I can't seem to find one that will, sight unseen, just filter to young adults.

So to start, if you're over, let's go with around twenty-two, years of age, you can probably disregard this message. Sorry, this thing is entirely about being younger here and so not really looking for as much feedback from adults that adult-ier than that.

[He has the decency to cringe at that word choice. 'Adult-ier'. Yeah, he half expects grief from those 'adultier' people for even making this, but hey, he's had a number of people give him hard looks because they were judging what it was to be a young adult with his experience so, to quote his boss, 'Whatever'.]

So, for any of those younger folk who haven't just shut me off by this point because my entire thing has been lame so far, I've got a proposition. I mean, at the New Year's Eve thing I noticed there are a lot more of us that I'd really, I don't know, anticipated? Which isn't an issue of course. And I imagine that for people from backgrounds where socializing and school and frequent releases of new movies [a small pause because really the guy looks half puzzled at that idea] was really a thing, it can be lonely here. Especially without people your age to talk to.

Especially with how sometimes the adults here get very awkward over our life experiences because I know I've heard that expressed sometimes.

Anyway, what I've been thinking is that we're here, and maybe we should figure out what to do with that fact? I'm not saying we make a young people club. Just, you know, network. Not electronic network, more the whole 'make connections with other people' network. Maybe meet up sometimes, or at least know who other people our age are, know there are maybe couches to crash on when you need to get away from situations, or someone to listen when you've got to talk, or just to share backgrounds without the inherent 'those life experiences are too big for someone your age' worried looks the older people get.

So, well, to sum up. Because basically I seem to be rambling and I normally only manage that when I'm having discussions of things like magic.

We're young. They're not as young. Sometimes that makes tension. So let's make friends who are young? If that appeals just, chat up here for right now? We can maybe talk about having a meet up later this month if people want that. Like that knitting group or whatever but for hanging out.

[He knows Rin wouldn't mind using the house for that. Seifer he'll... maybe bribe to be cool with it? Worst comes to worst schoolhouse. Or see if Billy and Tommy could host?

Look at this guy, looking more awkward at the end than he ever did at the start. Clearly a strange mixture of the nervous high school, or college really, nerd and a really built jock. And he looks like this whole process was like pulling teeth. But he does manage something like a smile because he figures that's the best way to end this.]

I'm shutting up now. Okay.

[There's a very quiet, under the breath curse that can't easily be made out, but clearly Seifer or Rinoa would know it's him cursing Hyne.]


Private Video to Seifer and Rinoa

[Clearly starts back up only seconds after the last one ended, and he looks even more awkward if that is possible. Of course it is because the video is still pointed in the direction of his head. But said head is currently face down, hidden by the fact of being pressed against their kitchen table. And his voice is only somewhat muffled as he speaks.]

I mean, all of this isn't a stupid idea, right? You can't tell me you two don't get the judgmental looks whenever we bring up anything about life back home. I guess it might not be as always bad on you, Rinoa, cause you had something vaguely resembling a non-mercenary life, I suppose. But I've heard Billy [the first time he's actually used the name of the guy he talks about sometimes at meals with them to fill quiet gaps] mention how someone called 'Captain America' would give him grief for heroing and stuff, and I know Kamala was reaching out to try and talk to people when her birthday was coming up about what it's like to be older.

It's clear there needs to be some way for young adults and late teens people to have the sort of... possible social interactions, right? Even Garden got that, and I know how we were raised was weird. Just feels so much like I'm casting doom on myself because I'm on the older end of the range I made up, and I spend a lot of time trying to get some of the 'adultier' [he groans because what a stupid word he used, fuck Seifer's not going to let that go] to not make me feel actively like I have to prove myself. Literally had to fight a guy. I'll explain that over dinner but...

Shiva's Tits, how do you delete stupid off the Internet guys?

Comments

[expeditiousness]

[tommy’s all too happy to believe nida and change the subject.]

Well, it’s not like Billy ever got experimented on by the government like I did, but yeah, it’s not easy bein’ a mutant in our world. People get real hung up on that, and like, why? We’re all just people. Chill.

Private

[skyward_eyes]

[Well of course Tommy does. It's pretty much Tommy's own stance on this stuff.]

They did what to you?

[Yeah, Nida looks angry on Tommy's behalf. Almost furious. Sure the guy is terrible at emotional connections, but his protectiveness is high level. And most of the village is in his little bubble of 'protect'. These Observers really managed to put him in that 'community versus everything' area, and so... He flips the channel to private. No one needs to see him offering this. Especially not possibly Billy. He likes to pretend he's a good enough person to hang out with his best friend.]

Hey, if I ever end up in your world, just a make a list. Names, locations, special requests. You may be a hero and supposed to be good and all that but...

I'm not.

returned private, yay

[expeditiousness]

[tommy doesn’t miss what nida’s offering with what he isn’t saying. but as much as he abhors the idea of anyone committing murder for his sake, there’s no impulse to scold or get on a soapbox about morals. there’s a better way to make his point. and what kind of hero would he be if he ignored this opportunity to pay forward the chance billy and the others gave him?]

I wasn’t always a hero, y’know. [his tone’s a hell of a lot more serious than his usual carefree breeze of quick words.] I dunno if Billy mentioned this before, but me an’ him didn’t grow up together - I only met him a couple of years ago, when the Young Avengers busted me outta “juvie.” I got locked up ‘cause I blew up part of my high school - which was an accident, by the way, mutant powers don’t come with an instruction manual. But I’d been in trouble with the law before, dumb teenager stuff, so they sent me to this other kind of facility, run by the government.

[he pauses briefly; despite his claim that he doesn’t have feelings, this is a painful memory to recall - especially in this village, where the loss of his powers is a constant reminder of what he endured.]

You hear about this kinda thing a lot when you’re a mutant - usually passed off as urban legends, ‘cause where’re you ever gonna get proof of something like that? I always figured it was the kind of story parents tell their mutant kids to scare ‘em into behaving - “Don’t use your powers or the government’ll take you away,” that sort of thing. But trust me - those places are real.

[tommy always assumed that if places like that did exist, he’d be able to outrun anyone who came after him. a foolish miscalculation on his part, in hindsight.]

They have a way to suppress your powers, just like they do here. And I guess maybe they thought I was such a bad seed anyway, why not find a way to turn me into a living weapon? You can always use another one of those, right? [he chuckles dryly.] So they did all kinds of tests and experiments on me, and they almost got what they were looking for. When Billy and the rest of the team broke me out, of course those doctors and wardens chased after us. And I was so mad about all the crap they did to me, I just wanted to kill ‘em all. Get my revenge, and make sure they could never hurt any other mutants ever again. And I could’ve killed them, too - I could’ve easily made them all explode, before they ever knew what hit ‘em. Could’ve easily gone full villain then, started using my powers to hurt people, just ‘cause I was pissed off at the way authority types treat us mutants. ‘Cause I never really had anyone care about what happened to me.

[he’s never really admitted that last part out loud, that the young avengers were the first people in his life to truly care about him - not what he could do, not how much of a nuisance or menace he was or could be. they cared about thomas shepherd, and they welcomed him into their ragtag team of teen superheroes.]

The Young Avengers gave me a choice - I could keep heading down that path and become a bad guy, or I could use my powers for good. Join them, and help people instead of hurting them. What I did in the past didn’t really matter - they gave me a chance to be a better person, and I took it. [he laughs quietly.] Maybe that’s what I needed all along - for someone to just give me a chance.

[and that’s why friendship is magic.]

Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s never too late to start being a hero. You just gotta decide that’s what you wanna be, and work to make it happen.

Privatte, Thank Hyne

[skyward_eyes]

[He stays quiet through all of it. Just... silent and attentive. Which is clearly a bit of a problem because the more Tommy hints at what he's been through, the angrier he became. It wasn't until the part about the 'Young Avengers' he was going to have to ask Billy about that, that his expression softened. Amazingly enough, Tommy had actually gotten through. A bit at least.]

Those people deserve punished, Tommy. They just.... get to get away with it? I don't like that at all. But if you agree to that being the thing that needed done, who am I to judge?

[His fingers card slowly through his hair as he tries to think of the right way to respond to this.]

It's... a lot harder to see the line between hero and villain on my world, Tommy. A lot. I'm a mercenary. Sometimes the things I do are for bad people. Sometimes it's for good. My boss and Rinoa saved the world with some of their friends. And yet when it comes to it, that same boss will accept a contract to take down political rivals of a client. And send me. Or go himself.

I'm a mercenary. A gun for hire so to speak, and I was raised to be that. So I really don't know that there's any 'heroism' in my future.

But I'm glad you found that.

You've given me a lot of things to think about.

same tbh

[expeditiousness]

I don’t really like it either, man. But being a hero isn’t about punishing people. It’s about helping them. And yeah, maybe there’s an argument that taking the bad guys out permanently helps people, but pretty much everyone deserves a second chance. I mean, look at me - if someone’d decided I was just a bad egg and needed to be punished for blowing up my school, where would I be now? Not here, that’s for sure.

[he’s quiet for a bit, pondering what nida’s said about being a mercenary, how he was raised into it. it sounds like an even harder life than what tommy’s experienced - nida’s definitely not some sheltered well-off kid, and tommy appreciates his realistic outlook.]

You don’t have to be a mercenary here, though. You can be whatever you want - you can take the time to figure that out. If you wanna try being a hero, here’s your chance. I believe in you, dude.

[if tommy can do it, so can you.]

Ain't that the truth. No one needs to see Tommy so feeling

[skyward_eyes]

Like there's any heroism here.

[Really, Tommy, what do you expect of him? Nida's fingers all from his hair and he sighs. It's almost like Tommy's saying they're more than their pasts. Would he really believe that if he knew what Nida had done in said past?]

You don't know me. How can you say you believe in me when you don't even know me?

[Though he supposes that goes back to how Tommy just explained he became part of these 'Young Avengers'.]

Listen. I'm trying. I really am. But I started on this path when I was eight. I'm twenty now, and I literally have maybe two or three memories that isn't this. Just a bit harder to change from than wrecking a school. Maybe. I don't know. I've never been to a proper one.

But I'm trying.

Do you really think Billy would let me get away with anything else? That brother of yours is just... I don't know. A different kind of good. And if he was right to believe in you and you found your way, maybe I can too.

he has a reputation to uphold!

[expeditiousness]

I just can, dude. I’m awesome like that.

[tommy’s not on video, but nida might be able to hear him grinning here. he chooses to believe in people, because the world is a dark enough place as it is. choosing a despairing outlook rather than one full of hope will do no one any good.]

Billy’s a good kid. A little sheltered - he had it a lot easier growing up, but he’s got a good heart. A good sense for people, too. Maybe that’s just something that runs in the family. Just stick with us and you’ll be OK.

They both do! So they will be private. They don't hold hands or have feelings

[skyward_eyes]

[Oh, there was no way Nida was going to do anything but stick with Billy, but that will be a problem he gets to process later that night during their sleepover. For right now he just chuckles.]

Why Tommy, almost sounds like you're trying to be friendly there. I mean, I get your brother picking up strays, like you said he has a good heart. Didn't know fighting dogs was your ticket too.

nope never c’:

[expeditiousness]

[tommy laughs warmly.]

Dude, why wouldn’t I be friendly? You’re my friend!

[that is what tommy has decided, yes. now you’re stuck with him, nida.]

Re: nope never c’:

[skyward_eyes]

[A long, silent pause. And when he does speak again he really does sound confused.]

We hung out for, what, ten minutes at a simulated New Year’s party.

[expeditiousness]

[tommy continues, complete unfazed:]

Yeah, so? You're Billy's friend, right? Any friend of Billy's is a friend of mine, too. It's a twin thing, two for one.

[skyward_eyes]

Yeah, I'm his friend. He didn't tell me it was a package deal. Is there joint custody agreements we need to arrange for?

[Maybe he's a touch amused.]

[expeditiousness]

Ya gotta read the fine print, my dude. [he chuckles quietly.] And nah, I'll just drop in whenever. Deal?

[skyward_eyes]

Deal.

Oh, sorta crashing at your place tonight. Billy okayed it. If you have a problem with that, I don't know, I'll lock you in a closet or something.

[expeditiousness]

Ya gotta catch me first! [he laughs.] I'm kidding, I don't have any problem with that. Come on over whenever, dude!

[skyward_eyes]

I'll be over when I'm supposed to be. later, Tommy.